


Broken from a young age

by rxvclver (LinaFair)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe, I dunno how to tag?, Lost Incident, One Shot Collection, but they're not necessary in the right order?, like they're all belong to the same story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-01-01 05:25:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18329510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaFair/pseuds/rxvclver
Summary: Just a short AU story about 'what if Ryoken had been a victim of the Lost Incident as well'





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah first time I publish a story here? I'm LIna and I'm trash for AU stories and drama and I guess it will get rather clear once I convince myself of posting more stuff around here. Also English isn't my first language so a big thank you to Yoz for reading over this :) 
> 
> I was highly encouraged to post this so let's hope I won't regret it x'D  
> There's actually a second part of this already finished and a third one I'm working on.

Ryoken wasn’t able to tell how long this nightmare was going on. Time just had become something to him that no longer hold any meaning. It was always the same. Open your eyes, duel to get food. Pain. Exhaustion. At some point just collapse and fall asleep again. The white around him stayed. Nothing changed about the scenery around him and honestly, Ryoken was already far away from the point where he actually could care about it.  
He knew that at some point he had wondered about why this was happening to him. About the question if he was the only one around here. But he stopped caring about those questions like a long time ago as well. To be honest there wasn’t much left he cared about besides getting food somehow. Besides the nagging feeling of hunger and pain constantly shaking his body there wasn’t much room left for other feelings. 

The only thought that came up in his mind was the one question about the why would this person do that to him? But Ryoken would always push that thought away again as soon as it would come up because the feeling of betrayal hurts so much more than the hunger or the electroshocks he already learned to live with. 

So when the door to his cell opened without any warning, the eight years old boy flinched hard, eyes wide as he turned towards the door. Next thing he knew was chaos in his head. Thousands of thoughts and feeling crashing down at him at once. 

He couldn’t move. Not when his eyes met those of his mother. Not when the woman called his name and ran towards him to pull him into her arms. 

Time seemed to pass by way too fast after that. Compared to the last few days… weeks? Months? .. .everything happened so damn fast and next thing the child noticed was that his mother pulled him through a room with many, many screens and suddenly the boy just stopped again. His hand slipped out of his mother ones and before the woman could react in any way Ryoken had already dashed towards the screens showing him five other children. 

He wasn’t the only one. He was not the only one stuck in this hell!

“We have to save them!”

It was the first time he actually spoke up in god knows how long and somehow Ryoken was surprised by how strange he sounded. Weeks of just screaming in pain surely left their traces on his voice. 

His mother’s eyes wandered through the room as if she was expecting someone to show up after the voice of her son broke the silence around. He probably had been heard outside of the room as well and for a moment the woman just holds her breath. Just when a few seconds had passed without anything happening she allowed herself to breathe out, before she moved over to her son, carefully trying to get him away from the screens. There wouldn’t be enough time to free them all. She didn’t even know how much time they had left until her husband or one of those working for him would return. 

“We’ll call for some help, but we have to leave first.”  
But Ryoken didn’t really want to hear this. Shaking his head he didn’t even turn around to his mother, eyes still more or less glued on the screens. Or more on one single one because he just had spotted a boy that was rather familiar to him and for a moment Ryoken felt like his blood was freezing. His father… the man putting him through all of this was one thing… getting other children involved probably was worse but involving the only one he ever even had thought about calling his friend one day? 

“We can’t! We can’t just leave we have to take them out! We have to… we have to take him out. He’s my friend!” 

Before he could be stopped he already had climbed half on the control panel, pointing with one hand to the screen a little boy with blue head was to see. Without really noticing it his knees hit one of the buttons in the progress though, activating the microphone to one certain cell. 

“I can’t leave him here! I.. we have to get him out! We have to get him out! It’s my fault he’s here we… I…” he was getting more and more hysteric with every word he was saying, tears already bubbling up in his eyes without him noticing at all. He didn’t see the pained look on his mother’s face as her eyes wandered from her shaking son back to the screens showing the other kids suffering under whatever plans her husband had made. She couldn’t understand it. And once she found out that Ryoken.. her own son had been involved in all of this.. she had to get him out. But she didn’t expect even more children to be involved and somehow this all wasn’t fair. It really wasn’t. But they hadn’t had time. Every moment now someone could come back and she could only imagine what would happen if her husband would find them here like this. 

“We won’t. We won’t leave them here. We just go outside to call help and we’ll wait till they’ll arrive here. But we can’t stay here. We can’t go back there because the bad man could get back any minute and if they caught us we can’t save anyone.” 

She wasn’t sure if Ryoken already was aware of the involvement of the man that was supposed to be his father, but she wouldn’t risk him finding that out right now. Not like this. Not under these circumstances. Instead, she was trying her best to convince him of coming with her. Time was running against them and inside this building, she wouldn’t be able to call anyone. 

The small boy was biting down on his lower lip, hard enough to actually make it bleed while he still couldn’t turn away from the screen. His eyes still focused on the younger boy he shook his head slightly. 

“I… I’ll come back to save you. I promise I’ll be back just... hang on. It will be over soon.” 

He wasn’t even aware that the boy actually could hear him. Any reaction went unnoticed as he finally let himself get dragged away from the panel again. His mother just decided to carry him for the rest on the way, not going to risk any disruption on their way out again. 

And so Ryoken found himself soon on the front seat of his mother’s car, while the older one was outside talking to someone on her phone. Ryoken could only suspect that it was the police. Honestly, he really hoped it was. Because his mother got him out there. He wanted to trust her. But at the same time, he wanted to trust his father as well but that man put him through all of this. But his mother saved him. At the same time she left behind the other so… could he really trust her? Could he? 

At some point after the call was finished his mother entered the car as well, but Ryoken wasn’t really looking at her. Instead, he had pulled his knees up, embraced his legs with both arms while his eyes were focused on the building he had to spend so much time in. At least his mother wasn’t making any move to start the car to go away so… maybe she really had meant it when she had said they would wait for help outside? He just could hope so. But he was ready to jump out of that car to run back as soon as she would start the engine. 

But nothing like that happened. Instead, time just passed. Time in which she tried to talk to him more than one time. But he ignored her. He didn’t want to talk. Being around someone else after all the time felt strange and he still wasn't sure if he really was safe. Was all of this even real? Or was he just asleep and this some kind of nightmare? 

But at some point - and again his feeling of time failed him because Ryoken had no clue how much time had passed, he just knew that he was so damn tired and everything hurt.. he wanted to sleep. Just wanted to sleep but he couldn’t because he needed to pay attention if the promised help would come. Needed to be ready to storm back in there to get those out they left behind and he felt so terrible by the thought that they still had to suffer - there suddenly was coming life to their surroundings. While they had been the only one around till now there were suddenly so many cars that Ryoken couldn’t even count them all. Police cars, ambulances. So many people running around. Running into the building and Ryoken slowly raised his head. His mother really did call for help, didn’t she? So.. could he actually trust her? He wanted, but he still was scared. Also, he still wasn’t really sure if this was really happening or not. Was it real? 

And yet again things happened so fast without giving him the chance to realize what was happening. Some of the people came over to the car, started to talk to his mother. Someone even tried to talk to him, but he just pressed his face into his knees, trying to avoid the attention he was suddenly getting. He wasn’t used having people around. His mother only had already made him feel so uncomfortable. And the situation was only getting worse and worse. As his body was starting to tremble he couldn’t actually hold back his tears anymore and suddenly there was one of the paramedics taking him out of the car. His eyes frantically were searching for his mother. He couldn’t really trust her but at the same time, he knew her. She was a familiar person to be around and it had been so much better than all these strange people. But his mother was talking to some of the police officers, looking at him with worried eyes while telling him that everything was alright and that he was safe. How could he be safe if he was just being dragged away again? 

But he didn’t fight back and soon after he found himself in the back of an ambulance, a young woman talking to him. Apparently, she wanted to check if he had any injuries or if he was alright. He wasn’t. Honestly, he wasn’t and Ryoken wasn’t sure if that was even visible. Did he have any bruises of all this pain he had gone too? Probably. He didn’t dare to ask.  
Instead he was trying to spot the entrance of the building again from his spot. Not really possible because the ambulance car was parked a bit away from it and the open doors were just open to the other direction. 

“What about the others…? They’re safe as well, right? Are they.. are they alright?” 

It was the first time he actually talked to these strangers and it wasn’t even about him. He didn’t want to know what would happen to him. If he would be okay. He just wanted to hear that the others were safe as well. That the boy would be safe. 

He didn’t get an answer. Probably because the people around him didn’t know yet. They still didn’t know what was going on inside the building and they most likely didn’t want to give the boy wrong answers or false hope. If he had been older and not so lost in his confusion and pain and fear Ryoken probably would have realized that as well. But right now he just couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t even want to. He just wanted to know..to see that the others were saved. So he used the first opportunity he got when attention shortly shifted to something else to jump down from the stretcher and slipped out of the ambulance truck again, running towards the building without anyone really noticing him or paying attention. 

He didn’t make it that far though because soon after he could spot a few men leaving the building, each of them carrying a young child in their arms. He could spot a slight movement with all of them and Ryoken could nearly feel how relieve hit him that moment, causing every worry he had only seconds ago to vanish for now. All the pressure that had been put on him only moments ago suddenly was gone and within one second all that was left was the pain and the exhaustion. Someone tried to talk to him. Ryoken noticed that much. But the next moment everything around him turned black as the young child collapsed to the ground. 

When he woke up again everything around him was white and for a moment Ryoken really feared that he was back at that room. That he got caught again or that everything just had been a dream after all. But then he realized that he was laying in an actual bed, that there was furniture around him. And that the room had a window and that it was dark outside. So… he really was… free? But where was he? Where was his mother? The other kids? What happened after he collapsed?  
It didn’t take that long for him to get his answers because already soon after he woke up the door opened and a doctor entered the room, together with a man that wore a police uniform. So… hospital? He could only guess, but he doubted this was a prison right? 

Biting down on his lower lip again he watched both of them getting closer, wary and distrust in his eyes. The next moments were spend with the adults explaining to him that he was in a hospital. That he had to stay around to get sure he was okay for a while. And that he wouldn’t be able to go home for a while. Honestly, Ryoken wasn’t that surprised to hear that his father got arrested. That on the other side surprised the police guy because he most likely didn’t expect him to actually know about his father's involvement. Ryoken stayed quiet for a moment, before actually asking about his mother because somehow… somehow he had expected her to be around. 

So after the two adults exchanged some looks that Ryoken wasn’t really sure what to think about the police officer started to explain to him, that they weren’t sure currently how far his mother was involved in all that had happened. And that as long as the investigation hadn’t been finished she wasn’t allowed to get near to him. So as a consequence he would have to live in some orphanage for a while. Honestly... Ryoken probably wouldn’t like that thought so much... but at that point, he couldn’t actually bring himself to care about it. Would it even matter? Was his mother involved after all? But.. she did call the police right? Or did she only because he demanded it like that? Would she have called the police if he had stayed quiet? He didn’t really knew and probably never would. In the end, he only stayed silent. And was left alone again soon after. 

In the following night, he didn’t get that much sleep. And he learned about the fact that the other five children were around as well. Actually… he had seen them all because - thanks to those nightmares waking him up every time he managed to fall asleep - he had started to investigate this hospital a bit more. As it turned out it wasn’t a normal hospital but some sort of private clinic and they were at some small wing on their own. Most rooms had been empty. And in those that weren’t, he found the other children seemingly asleep. But maybe they just hadn’t woken up again after they were brought here. Ryoken wasn’t sure but he didn’t dare to get closer to them. He didn’t want to wake them. And at the same time, he was afraid of what would happen if one of them would actually notice him. He returned to his own room soon after he got sure that all five kids were around, even though he didn’t found any more sleep that night he felt somehow reassured. 

A few days later the first children were allowed to leave with their families. Ryoken hadn’t gotten into contact with them at all, but he could hear their parents talking to doctors on the floor. They still weren’t sure where to put him so he was still staying in this room even though he felt okay. Well somehow close to okay. He just wasn’t sure what to feel and what to think about this whole situation and honestly… he just wanted to go home. But that place didn’t exist any longer. 

Another week passed by until Ryoken was allowed to leave as well. By now he had learned about the fact that this nightmare had taken him six months of his life. Also about the one that his mother was still held in for questioning. As well as his father. He had been questioned by the police as well, but he couldn’t actually tell them much. He most likely was too afraid to actually mention the fact that he brought one of those children in this hell. It probably would be a secret he would die with one day. He also learned about the fact that he still wasn’t allowed to go back to his mother. But they found an orphanage he could stay in for now. Or so he was told. Ryoken wasn’t really convinced that he wanted to go there. Even less once he arrived there. Because it was so loud and so many children around and it was the complete opposite of what he had experienced over the last months.  
Also, he was told not to talk about what had happened to him. He didn’t really understand why. And what of it he wasn’t allowed to mention or if it just was everything. Was he even allowed to talk about his parents? So as a consequence he spends the most time with himself and avoided talking to others whenever it was possible. At least until he spotted some boy with grey hair that seemed oddly familiar even though he only saw him once. But still, Ryoken just had been sure that this boy had been there as well. It was a short talk between them to confirm this suspicion and from then on they were mostly inseparable. They didn’t even talk much with each other. Just having each other around, this silent understanding of their situation they shared was something that seemed to help both of them. Even if it was separating them from the rest of the kids around even more. Ryoken didn’t care. But he didn’t actually dare to tell Spectre about his father either. 

A few weeks later Yusaku joined their little group. Ryoken had known who the other boy was as soon as he spotted him at the entrance of the common room. And when he had spotted him sitting in some corner alone on his own he had just dragged Spectre over there, starting some conversation. And it seemed like the younger boy did recognize him. Even though Ryoken wasn’t aware if it was from before the kidnapping or if he saw him at the hospital as well - he still didn’t know about the fact that Yusaku actually had been able to hear part of his conversation with his mother. Being together just made their world a bit better again. 

And when that woman, his mother, appeared at the orphanage at least Ryoken still wasn’t sure if he could actually trust her. If he wanted her around again at all because while he didn’t actually like the place he was currently living there was no way that he would leave Spectre or Yusaku behind. And he just told her that. And while she left shortly after that, not seeming that happy, she actually returned a while later to take him home. But not only him, but Yusaku and Spectre as well. 

And for a moment the soon to be nine years old boy was actually believing that maybe things could be okay again one day.


	2. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just because they escaped the Incident never meant there life was going to be any easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is a bit late. Reason for that was that I was trying to finish part 3 before, because chronologically it would be set before this chapter as Part 3 actually would be end of S1 and this.. yeah well you'll see I guess? 
> 
> My upcoming final exams crashed that plan a little bit and because I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer here's part 2. With this it's being said that this story collection won't be in chronologically order because honestly I don't know what part 4 will be about anyways?

“Didn’t you promise Yusaku to stay away from these things?” 

Spectre was standing in the door of his room, arms crossed in front of his arms while he was nodding slightly into the direction of the cleaning robot that was busy with pushing things through his room without any obvious plan where to get those things at all as it seemed.   
The older teen only shrugged slightly. “I did. But only because he wouldn’t have left otherwise and he already was getting late to get his train.”   
The youngest one of them had left to visit his friend the day before, but he had been rather reluctant in leaving Ryoken behind. But while Ryoken wouldn’t have minded visiting Takeru as well Spectre probably hadn’t been the best choice in taking along and as Ryoken didn’t want to leave the other one behind he just decided to stay as well. Takerus grandparents hadn’t expected him anyways so why cause them more trouble? 

“You know he won’t like that?” 

“Yeah well... .you have to tell him, otherwise, he’d never know. So you’re going to tell him?”

To be honest...Ryoken was rather sure that Spectre would not. Even if he and Yusaku were close as well, it always had been rather obvious that his opinion was a bit more important to the grey-haired teen. 

“If you manage to survive this weekend without getting hurt again I probably won’t. Still, you should take such promises a bit more serious.” 

“He’s just scared because Homura told him too many ghost stories.” Looking at that it probably hadn’t been the wisest decision to leave those two on their own after all. “Also.. if I would take every single promise to him serious I made him in the last two weeks I would have to stay awake not only from those cleaning robots but as well from AI-driven cars, bridges, stairs, and rivers. What should I do? Hide in my room for the rest of my life?” 

He most likely wouldn’t do that. He already spent six months trapped in a room and Spectre knew that as well. 

“Well, you can’t deny that you had a few… not so nice encounters with those things, can you?” 

Even though the younger one looked rather bored while saying those words Ryoken could clearly hear the worry out of the other one's voice and it caused him to groan slightly. 

“You both can’t be serious about this… it had been accidents. Okay.. maybe a few more of them lately but it’s just coincidence okay? No one’s set to harm me.” 

“You’re sure about that? What about you’re…” 

“That man’s dead. This time for real. He can’t harm me any longer.”

The look he got from the younger one as a reply was clearly showing that Spectre wasn’t so sure about that. Of course he had been around as well to convince himself of that man's death as well, but still..they already had believed that for once and it had been proved wrong, so maybe Spectre was right with doubting it to a certain point. Still… Ryoken was determined to not let himself be bothered by that man ever again. He already destroyed more in his life than he had been supposed to begin with. 

“You know we're just worried about you?”

Of course he was. He was way too well. But that didn't mean he had to like it and honestly he would prefer if it wouldn't be this worse. On the other side, he couldn't actually blame them right? Yusaku even less. Afterward, all he had only been forced to see Spectre vanish in the mess his supposed to be dead father had caused in his hunt for the dark Ignis. Yusaku had to witness not only that but seeing him vanish as well. That plus all those accidents he ended up in over the last weeks… Maybe it was just the right thing for them to do. Being worried about him. He still didn't like it. 

“I know. But it's not necessary.”

Saying that he turned away from the younger one, so he could only hear him groaning theatrically. 

“You're unbelievable. Don't call for help if that robot attacks you though.”

He didn't mean for it to be that serious. Of course he didn't, and he was rather well aware of the fact that Ryoken knew that he as well. Still, he turned around as well, ready to leave the room. But he didn't make it that far, because a quiet, confused ‘what the…?’ from the older one caused him to spin around again at the same moment and for a moment Spectre found himself wondering if he was hallucinating. There was this bright figure standing just in front of the older teen, doing… something before retreating to the TV screen and Spectre wasn't even realizing what was happening right now, but the next moment Ryoken just dropped lifeless to the ground and before he knew it he was already sitting at the other one's side, shaking his shoulders in an attempt to wake him up again. 

“Ryoken? Hey! Wake up that's no fun damn it! Ryoken!”

No reaction from the other one. Just… Nothing. And while his mind still failed to comprehend the whole situation panic was already getting its grip on him and somehow he did the only thing that came up in his mind at that point. 

“Mom?!”

 

The moment she heard screaming Spectre for her like that, the woman already had known that something bad must have happened. Spectre never had called her anything close to that, always had referred to her by her name. The boy always had been rather distant towards her, only really opening up to Ryoken and in some degree to Yusaku as well   
She always had suspected it was because those three could understand each other on a completely different level. One she would never be able to reach because she could only vaguely imagine what these kids had gone through all those years ago. 

To see them together always had given her the hope that maybe one day they would be able to get over it together. It had been the reason why she had tried to get in contact with the other three kids as well but only the grandparents of Takeru had been responding, due to the fact that Kusanagi Jin wasn't really in any state of mind to meet others and the girls mother just wanted to deny anything of this had happened at all.   
But still. Every now and then Takeru would come over for the weekend to visit, and more often Yusaku went over to visit the other boy instead like he was doing on this weekend as well. 

What already gave her a clue about what had happened upstairs… 

Looking at the fact how many accidents her son had over the last few weeks she didn't even want to end that thought though. Instead, she was just running upstairs with fast steps as she just needed to get to her son. 

In her mind, she already had gone through several different things that could have had happened, but nothing or this was close to reality. Nothing of it could have prepared her for finding her son unconscious on the ground, Spectre shaking him frantically while screaming his name. 

Part of her noticed, that she hadn't felt that helpless since that day ten years ago where she found out about what her former husband had been doing and how her missing son had been involved in it. Part of her also was somehow relieved that Yusaku wasn't around right now, because looking at the fact how panicked Spectre was she could only imagine the younger one's reaction. 

The rest of her certainly didn't have the time or thought for anything while she crossed the distance between herself and the two boys, pulling Ryoken right into her arms. 

“What happened? Spectre! What happened?!”

She didn't want to scream at the boy. She really didn't. Yet it happened and somehow it took her to get really loud to even get the teens attention. 

Spectre’s eyes were wide open, still focused on Ryoken, hands still grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt. 

“I… I don't know… I… There suddenly was this light… It pulled him away…”

That… wasn't making any sense at all. What light? Where pulled it Ryoken? After all her son was still here. Still in her arms and god…was he even breathing? 

But before she actually could say something about it she came to realize that Spectre now was pointing at Ryokens TV screen and her eyes widened even more once she recognized the distant familiar surroundings of LINK VRAINS there. 

When the three boys had started to go to that virtual world a bit more than a year ago she hadn't been sure what to think about it, but eventually had settled down with the thought that maybe...maybe they were just getting over what had happened to them.   
She hadn't been aware of what they actually were doing there back then though and after everything that had happened in the last few months… Honestly, she had never wanted to see any of these boys close to this world ever again. 

Something - and she wasn't really able to say what - caught her attention again and when her eyes wandered back to Spectre again the teen was already activating the duel disk around his wrist. Since when was he even wearing that thing? Was he wearing it all the time? Why? And why did he… 

“I'm going. I gonna get him back.”

She went pale as soon as she realized the meaning behind his words, shaking her head at the same time. 

“No. No, you won't! You have to… “

But it was too late. The other one already had pushed the right buttons and shortly after the blue bubble had appeared around him the teen collapsed as well. Somehow she managed to grab him at the collar of his shirt, pulling him into her direction so he wouldn't hit his head on the ground. 

The moment she sat there with now two unconscious boys in her arms, was just the one it all became too much for her. She should have stopped Spectre from going…she just had…but all those thoughts couldn't change anything about this situation at all. She just had to hope that the teen would come back soon. That he would come back at all. She needed to take care of Ryoken. She needed to get help. Call some ambulance. Damn…she needed to call Yusaku as well. The younger one deserved to know this. Needed to know about this. 

At the same time, she knew that the boy probably would be heartbroken, if not worse. And somehow…somehow she couldn't help but ask herself when those three boys finally would be allowed to find their peace without any new problems waiting for them in the future.


	3. Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay months later I'm still not that happy with this part? I like it a bit more than a few weeks ago but I'm not really happy with it either for some reason or another so... feedback would really be appreaciated this time. 
> 
> Also.. this chapter actually takes place between Chapter 1 and 2. So a short jump back in time actually because somehow I really wanted to write this. I just... didn't expect it to be this hard x'D   
> Next chapter will take place after chapter 2 again probably. But with my last exam in two weeks, how everyone likes to remind me today, I can't tell when I'll be able to post it.

When the other one declared his attack Playmakers eyes wide slightly. No way. There was no way to avoid this, as he already had been pushed into this corner. But still.. he couldn’t. Couldn’t give up like that. Not now. Not against this man who made him suffer so much. Who made  _ Ryoken _ suffer this much. His eyes wandered over to Revolver next to him, worried. But more about the older one than about himself. At the same time he could hear Ai screaming at him to  _ do _ something.  _ Anything _ . 

He couldn’t. He just ran out of options and so there wasn’t much then closing his eyes waiting for his certain defeat, but nothing like that happened, but instead there was Revolvers voice. 

“I activate my trap card.” 

In an instant Playmakers eyes opened again, wandering over to the other one and his eyes grew a bit wider as well. Revolver..  _ Ryoken…  _ he couldn’t.  _ Shouldn’t _ . 

“What are you doing…?” His voice wasn’t more than a whisper.He wasn’t even sure if the other one had heard him, as Kogami was asking him at the same time if he was stupid to sacrifice himself for Playmaker like that. Most likely Revolver did not, as he wasn't showing any reaction to it at all. On the other side he was ignoring his father's words as well. 

It wasn't making the situation any better. And in the end Playmaker couldn't do much more than watch how the attack that was meant to destroy  _ him  _ was now directed at the one beside him, thanks to the effect of this stupid trap card Revolver just had played. 

He couldn't do anything, only watching how the older one closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. 

“No!”

He didn't even realized when he had started to run towards the other one, the next moment he was already falling onto his knees next to the older one. 

“Why did you do this? Why did you…?” 

His words died as soon as he could spot the soft smile on Revolvers face, eyes slowly opening again to meet his own ones. 

“I couldn't let him hurt you like that again..”

Playmakers eyes grew wide at those words. He couldn’t even find the strength to shake his head. It never had been the other ones fault. Not once. And still… The other ones life points hit zero as he slowly started to turn into thousands of pixels, getting absorbed into the tower. Playmaker had tried to grab him, pull him towards him but he failed. 

“No… No, no… Ryoken?!”

Not him as well. Watching Spectre vanish had already been hard enough but this? For a moment he was just close to give up at this point. It would be so easy and maybe he would be able to be together with the other two again. But the thought of Revolvers sacrifice being in vain if he would lose as well stopped him from this thought rather soon again. Fighting back the tears he did his best to get back on his feet again, facing Kogami who didn't even seemed impressed by the fact that his own son did just vanish. 

“You'll pay for this.”

The tone Playmaker used while saying these words was not one easily connected to him. Even Ai looked up surprised. Confused. Playmakers seemed like a completely different person suddenly and somehow the little AI didn't even doubt those words. Ai hadn't been sure what exactly the relationship between his origin and the other two teens had been but obviously they had been close. And Kogami just had crossed a line he better had stayed far away from. 

“I'll make you pay for this.”

* * *

When the duel finally was over Ai couldn’t exactly tell  _ how _ Playmaker had even managed to pull this of. Kogamis life points hit zero, they had only bare 100 points left themselves. Kogami had tried to say something before his avatar had vanished, but Playmaker hadn’t even given any attention to him. Instead he had turned around the moment the monsters between them had vanished, sinking to his knees at the place where Ryoken had vanished something that felt like an lifetime ago. 

The teen didn’t cared about what Kogami had to say. Not about the Ignis. Not about the Lost Incident. He had left that Incident behind himself so long ago, at least always had  _ thought _ he had. Surely he still had nightmares. And he was rather well  _ aware  _ that Ryoken and Spectre had them as well but still.. they were together. They were a family. And together with Ryokens mom he had found a way to go on, even if his parents never had appeared in his life ever again. 

And yet… during the duel he had to realize, that he wasn’t over it at all. There still was this  _ fear _ to lose. The need to win. The pain. It all was still  _ there _ , even though it was different and more than once he had been so close to just give up. In the end he didn’t. In the end he  _ won _ . But wasn’t the price for that too high? 

He barely noticed that the tower had stopped, that Kogami had vanished. Instead he was just focused on his own shaking hands, while tears slowly were searching their way over his face. 

“I want them back.” 

It was only a quiet whisper, but it was the first reaction Playmaker gave ever since the end of the duel and so he instantly got Ais attention. The Ignis had his head tilted to the side slightly, a sad expression in his face as far as it was possible with only eyes. 

“Playmaker…” 

Ai wanted to say so much in that moment. Most of all that they probably should log out before the whole tower would collapse or anything similar would happen, but he got no reaction at all. At least none that showed that the other one was even realizing that he had said something. 

“I want them  _ back _ .” 

With hands clenched to fists he hit the ground rather hard, but he didn’t feel the pain, didn’t even noticed the impact while his whole body was shaking. He had tried so hard. He had  _ fought _ so hard. To protect those who were important to him. To get back what was taken from them. Instead he had lost  _ everything _ . And he was so damn tired… and at the same time so angry.. 

“Yusaku!”

The sound of the rather familiar voice almost instantly got the teens attention, even more because - while he had  _ hoped  _ to hear it again - he hadn't expect it. In an instant his head shoot up, eyes wide as he could spot the familiar form of Ryokens avatar. 

"Re.. Revolver?" 

Was he…really back or was he imagine things already? Did he actually… 

Revolver let out a relieved sigh once the younger one finally reacted to his words. He already had tried to call out to him using his VR name, but it seemed like the other one hadn't even noticed. 

Closing the last few meters between them Revolver sank down onto his knees right next to the younger one, placing both of his hands on the smaller ones shoulders, before he pulled him into a hug. 

"You did good. It's over." he whispered quietly in the younger ones ear, could feel how the others body was shaking against him. Maybe what he did hadn't been right, but at the moment… He hadn't been able to watch the other one lose. He swore to protect him so many years ago… He wouldn't break that promise now. 

“Revolver…” it was Ai’s quiet voice that got his attention next and for a moment the duelist looked down on the other ones duel disk to face the little Ignis, that was - now that it got his attention - pointing towards the tower, that was still collapsing into itself. “...maybe we should better leave?” 

Well, looking how not only the tower was collapsing, but the whole world around them as well the little AI probably wasn’t that wrong.

“Yeah.” 

And while he overwrote the others program to force him to log out, Revolver just hoped that Spectre made it back home safe as well. He stayed a moment longer till Playmaker was gone, before he logged out as well, for a moment rather sure that the wouldn't visit vrains for a long while after this. 

  
  



End file.
